While the Myanmar junta’s administrative mechanism is largely run by men, a handful of women provide assistance and support for junta boss Min Aung Hlaing’s efforts to extend his grip on power.
Ethnic Kachin woman Dwe Bu sits on the junta’s governing body, the State Administration Council (SAC), and Aye Nu Sein, an ethnic Rakhine woman, is a member of the SAC’s Central Advisory Board. Women advisors to the regime include Yin Yin Nwe, ex-wife of a son of Myanmar’s first dictator, Ne Win; Yin Yin Oo, daughter of former President Maung Maung, who was a Ne Win loyalist; and Khin Oo Hlaing, who has represented the junta at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Among junta cabinet members, Union Minister for Legal Affairs and Attorney General Thida Oo and Deputy Minister of Culture Nu Mya Zan and Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) Governor Than Than Swe are well-known figures.
Until recently, Thet Thet Khine served as the hotels and tourism minister for the regime. However, she was removed from her position during a cabinet reshuffle in February. Previously an MP for Dagon Township with the National League for Democracy, she founded the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) to contest the 2020 general election. After the 2021 coup, she took on a ministerial role in the regime. Now, as the chairperson of the PPP, she is actively preparing for the junta-organized elections.
Than Than Swe: Loyal junta supporter
CBM Governor Than Than Swe, 58, plays a crucial role in managing the regime’s finances. A director-general at the CBM when the regime seized power in a coup in 2021, she was promoted to deputy governor four days later. After surviving an assassination attempt at her Yangon residence in 2022, she was eventually rewarded with the CBM governorship due to her loyalty to the regime.
As the Myanmar people daily suffer the consequences of the regime’s financial mismanagement, Than Than Swe’s CBM has imposed various restrictions to keep the junta afloat and ease the hard currency crisis it is facing. Those restrictions include prohibiting individuals from holding US dollars and mandatory conversion of dollars to kyat at the official exchange rate, which is much lower than the street rates.
To address the regime’s foreign currency crisis she took the lead in implementing financial measures such as facilitating direct currency exchange between kyat, yuan, rupees and rubles for Myanmar’s trade with neighboring countries and Russia. Since the coup, she has been not only steadfastly loyal to the junta, but also critical to its survival.
Attorney General Thida Oo: Sole woman minister
Currently the Union attorney general and the only woman to hold a full ministerial portfolio in the junta, Thida Oo plays a key role in providing legal support to the regime. She has been instrumental in bending constitutional provisions to repeatedly extend military rule since the expiration of the initial one-year period, imposed by the junta after the 2021 coup. She performs the vital function of drafting and amending repressive laws including the Conscription Law, suggesting she works closely with Min Aung Hlaing.
The dual roles she has served in the regime since the coup reflect Min Aung Hlaing’s trust in her. She frequently represents the junta at meetings and forums with its allies including China and Russia. She has also attended hearings at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague as a junta representative, alongside staunch military supporter and junta minister Ko Ko Hlaing, highlighting her significance as a key figure within the regime.
Thida Oo has also been involved in negotiating economic agreements and signing memorandums of understanding with junta allies including China, Russia and Belarus. Her legal expertise is vital to the facilitation of these agreements, making her one of the most instrumental servants of the regime.
Min Aung Hlaing advisors Yin Yin Nwe, Yin Yin Oo, Khin Oo Hlaing
Following his coup, Min Aung Hlaing formed an advisory group that includes three women: Yin Yin Nwe, Yin Yin Oo and Khin Oo Hlaing.
Of them, 73-year-old Yin Yin Nwe is the most vocal supporter of the junta. She has written articles for propaganda outlets accusing the civilian National Unity Government, its parliamentary wing the CRPH and its armed wing the People’s Defense Force of being akin to the Taliban.
Following the 2021 coup she wrote many articles for junta propaganda newspapers criticizing teachers and healthcare workers who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), and praising non-CDM workers. Moreover, she has penned many social media posts in support of the junta, while condemning revolutionary forces and individuals who oppose it.
A former chief education advisor to Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government, Yin Yin Nwe is known to be a conservative. A geologist by training, she worked for UNICEF from 1991 to 2011. In August 2012 she was appointed to a commission of inquiry investigating that year’s communal violence in Rakhine State. As she served at a UN agency for decades, it is reasonable to assume she occasionally advises the junta boss on how to engage with the world organization.
Yin Yin Oo, who worked at the Foreign Ministry for decades, advises the junta boss on foreign policy. She retired as a deputy director general in 2016 before the NLD government took office. She is the daughter of the late Dr. Maung Maung, who was president for a month following the 1988 nationwide uprising and authored a hagiographic account of the life of former dictator Ne Win.
Another advisor to the junta boss, Khin Oo Hlaing, is said to be an international criminal law expert. She is also a joint secretary of the junta’s legal team tasked with presenting its defense in the Rohingya genocide case currently before the ICJ.
Dwe Bu: The SAC’s only female member
Dwe Bu, a 63-year-old ethnic Kachin politician, is the only woman on the 16-member SAC led by Min Aung Hlaing. She served as the vice chairperson of the Kachin State People’s Party (KSPP) and was an MP during Thein Sein’s administration. A former attorney at the Supreme Court, Dwe Bu also participated in the National Convention organized by the previous military regime to draft the 2008 Constitution.
In February 2023, shortly after the junta extended its term, Dwe Bu was appointed to the SAC as a nominal representative for the Kachin ethnic group. So far, the duties of her two-year term have consisted primarily of attending and presenting awards at sports events in Naypyitaw. She occasionally meets with education, economic, and religious leaders in Kachin State to promote the junta’s initiatives and encourage participation in the upcoming elections.
Aye Nu Sein: Lone woman on the junta’s advisory board
Aye Nu Sein was appointed to the SAC after the 2021 coup, before being shunted off to the newly formed Central Advisory Group in 2023 along with some other SAC members. Though it has existed for two years, it reportedly has yet to establish a physical office in Naypyitaw. A spokesperson for the Arakan National Party, she said she joined the SAC to serve the interests of the Rakhine people. Despite her official roles, the EU-sanctioned woman does not have any authority, and is considered a mere puppet of the regime, ensconced in junta-provided accommodation in Naypyitaw and collecting a paycheck from the regime.
Dep. Culture Minister Nu Mya Zan: Min Aung Hlaing’s storyteller
That Min Aung Hlaing yearns to be regarded as a king is an open secret in Myanmar. Since the coup, he has done everything he can to portray himself as a devout state leader, engaging in such traditionally regal activities as constructing the world’s largest seated Buddha statue, consecrating pagodas, proclaiming the discovery of white elephants and unearthing massive rubies.
His every action—not least his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin—is obsessively orchestrated to present him as a modern-day Burmese king.
In this context, Deputy Minister of Culture Nu Mya Zan, who is ethnic Rakhine, has taken on the role of explaining the history of ancient royal cities, palaces, moats and pagodas revered by former kings. During these tours, Nu Mya Zan is often seen alongside Min Aung Hlaing’s wife, Kyu Kyu Hla. Her detailed presentations about the grandeur of ancient kings, the magnificence of royal palaces, the strength of city walls, and the systematic construction of fortifications seem to provide psychological satisfaction to Min Aung Hlaing, who is deeply engrossed in his royal fantasies.
Min Aung Hlaing’s appointments of Rakhine figures like Aye Nu Sein and Nu Mya Zan are seen by some as attempts to win over and mobilize the Rakhine community. In 2023, during his visit to inspect the Kaladan River Project in Sittwe, the Rakhine capital, Nu Mya Zan was again by his side.
Kyu Kyu Hla: With her husband, criminals in perfect harmony
Over the four years since the military coup, as the lives of Myanmar’s people have been thrown into turmoil, Kyu Kyu Hla has played a pivotal role as Min Aung Hlaing’s closest companion, tirelessly supporting his actions from within their household.
A former Burmese literature lecturer and two years older than the junta leader, she accompanies him on most of his trips and meticulously oversees what he writes in guestbooks.
She has also contributed poems under the pseudonym “Thiri Pyae Sone May” to military academy magazines, glorifying the military and praising cadets.
Since the coup, their children—Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon—have leveraged their father’s authority to expand their business empire. Their ventures encompass military-related industries, healthcare, construction, hotels and, most recently, electric vehicles and solar energy projects promoted by their father. These activities have placed them among Myanmar’s top tier of crony families.
Min Aung Hlaing once told a Russian news agency that he was unable to spend much time with his family due to his military duties and credited Daw Kyu Kyu Hla with managing the household and raising their children.
As the country has sunk deeper into poverty under the regime, Kyu Kyu Hla has not been shy about flaunting her affinity for high-end international luxury brands. She has been spotted with handbags collectively valued at over $275,000 since the coup. Like former military dictator Than Shwe’s wife Kyaing Kyaing before her, Daw Kyu Kyu Hla has established herself as a leading figure of the regime.
Min Aung Hlaing has bestowed one of Myanmar’s highest honorary titles, the Agga Maha Thiri Thudhamma Theingi, on his wife, acknowledging her importance to the regime.
